Metal rolling



k a j f July 14, 1925. 1,546,025

N. c. RENDLEMAN METAL ROLLING Filed June 20. 1922 a Sheets-Sheet 1 L N j fya/"md/z diam/22 N. c. RENDLEMAN METAL ROLLING July 14, 1925. 1,546,025

Filed June 20, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 W I W 7 f5 JZ v July 14, 1925;

N. .C. RENDLEMAN METAL-ROLLING Fi led June 20. 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 5 reamed July 141 925. I

UNITED TES' NORMAN C. BENDLEMAN, OF DOBMONT, PENN'SYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JONES &

LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION (PF PENNSYLVANIA.

METAL Application filed June 20, 1922. Serial No! 569,730.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that NORMAN C. RENDLEMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Dormont, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, has invented an Improvement in Metal Rolling, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings rep-. resenting like parts.

This invention aims to produce flanged"- structural members, such as I-beams and channels, of light weight and great depth in proportion to the webthic-kness, particularly such as are suitable for replacing wood beams and so-called. metal lumber for building and other purposes, but it is not restricted to these uses. I

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown one embodiment of the invention for purposes of illustration,

Fig. 1 an end view of an I-beam having characteristic features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a suitable beam llz lank for producing the I-beam shown in Fi s. 3 and 4 are views of typical shapes of rol passes for thinning the web and increasing the depth of the blank shown in Fig. 2, the resulting cross-sectional shape being shown in each View.

v Fig. 5 is a view of a closed pass for elongating and shaping the I-beam as shown in ig. 6 is a diagram illustratmg the Successive stages of rolling for comparison; Fig. 7 is a view\ of another arran ement of rolls for giving the beam its nished shape:

Referring to Fig. 1, the I-bealn 10 therein shown has a depth of approximately three times the breadth of its flanges 11, and the web 12 is' approximately one-sixty-fourth of itsdepth, which is very much thinner than has heretofore been considered possible in roportion to the depth. The shape and re ative proportions give the beam much greater strength, in proportion to its weight, to carry transverse loads than I-beams of the same weights as heretofore rolled. The improved product may be rolled from a billet or bloom by my improved method,

or it may advantageously be produced from a suitable blank of dimensions and proportions easily obtained by ordinary rolling operations, such'as the blank 13 shown in Fig. 2, wherein the breadth and depth are nearly equal and the thickness of the web is about the same as that of the flanges where they join the web. Such a blank may be rolled from a suitable billet at one heat.

greater cross-sectional area in web and flanges as the finished I-beam 10, and the weight per foot of the blank is preferably not much in excess of the weight tper foot of the finished beam. For example, a 3 standard I-beam' weighing about 7 pounds per foot may be rolled into a 7 I-beam weighing about 7 pounds per foot with an elongation ofabout 15% in length, the increase in *the depth from 3" to 7 being accompaniedv by a corresponding decrease in the thickness of the web with but little change in the dimensions of the flanges and relative cross-sectional areas of the web and flange. The increase in the strength and stiffness of the beam due to its increased depth is such as t make it available for Preferably the blank 13 is of such dimen-' slons as to have about the same or slightly floor beams of a span length for which the .3" beam is not suitable. I

Heretofore it has not been commercially practicable to roll sha. 'treme proportions readily produced by my invention, and such shapes have been aphaving the exi proximated only in built up structures such as by riveting, brazing or spot welding separate pieces together with attendant'disadvantages;

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, my invention contemplates thinning of the' web 12 with resulting separation of the flanges 11 to increase the depth of the beam by passing the blank through a. series of grooves 14, 15, formed in-rolls which engage the web but are spaced away from the flanges to permit the latter'to accommodate themselves freely to anychange in .the web. The rolls are preferably beveled or 'ta groove, or slig tly crowned on their faces, and the number of grooves may be increased to produce the extent of thinning and widening of the web desired. As the rolls do not touch the flanges there is no reduction or red at the ends of each passes are startlng at its med1an lme and proceeding.

tageously be passed through the successive grooves in one continuous operation, thereby enabling it to be rolled at the same heat as it was formed from the billet.

Preferabl the successive web thinning esigned to operate on the web toward the flanges, the thinning of a portion being completed at each pass to its final thickness, so that no substantial thinning of such completed portion is effected in.suc ceeding passes prior to the finishing operation.

One or more final passes through rolls 16 having closed passesv of usual shape, as shown in Fig. 5, or universal rolls, as shown in Fig. 7, may advantageously be added to finish the beam.. A portion of the thick metal left in the web near its junction with the flanges (see Fig. 4) may be rolled into the web in the finishing operation thereby increasing the depth of the beam.

The comparative dimensions of the blank in its successive stages of manufacture are depicted in Fig. 6 to illustrate the manner in which the beam may be widened without a substantial change in any of its other dimensions except the thickness of the web prior to the final finishing. Inspection of the beam in its various stages shows that the metal of the web flows away from the median line toward the flanges, thereby foreing-the flanges apart, instead of flowing.

lengthwise of the beam with consequent elongation as in the ordinary process of rolling. This forcing of the flanges apart elongates them slightly with a resulting slight elongation of the beam as a whole; but this elongation is distinguishable from that produced by rolling a beam the ord'inary manner, as it is accompanied by the lateral spreading of the web.

The invention obviously is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof nor tothe means for producing it herein illustrated and described. Having described one illustrative embodiment of my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

-1. Rolling flanged sha es having marginal flanges of greater wi th than the inter-.

vening web portion by displacing the metal of the web portion sidewise progressively from the middle without substantial elongation. 5

2. Rolling flanged shapes by displacmg the metal of the web portion sidewise progressively from the middle without substantial ellpnlgatioliii. d h h 3. o in an e s a av" mar inal flanges if gre ater than tie int rvening web portion by displacing the met-a1 of the web portion sidewise without substantial elongation.

4. Rolling flanged shapes by passing them through rolls having workingfaces acting upon the. web portion and nonworking grooves to straddle the flanges.

-5. Rolling flanged shapes by using a series of passes having-working faces act ng upon the web portion and nonworking grooves to straddle the flanges, the grooves of succeeding passes being spaced farther apart than those next" preceding.

6. Rolling flanged-shapes by passing them at substantially uniform speed through series of roll sets havinggrooves to straddle the flanges, the grooves of succeeding sets being spaced farther apart than those next preceding whereby the shape is widened with minimum elongation.

7. The process of rolling a thin web shape from a normal flanged shape which comprises the use of a series of passes of increasing width of face, the roll faces of each pass being spaced apart substantially equal amounts at their middles and having grooves at their ends straddling the flanges.

8. The process of rolling a thin web shape from a normal flanged shape which comprises the use of a series of passes of increasing width of face, the roll faces of each pass being tapered towards the ends and spaced apart substantially equal amounts at their middles and having grooves at their ends straddling the flan es.

9. The process 0 rolling a thin web shape from a body of given length which comprises the use of a series of passes to progressively thin the body by lateral flow substantially without lengthwise extension.

10. The process of rolling a. thin web shape from .a flanged blank which comprises thinning and widening the web progressivel from the median line of the blank I toward t e flanges in a series of roll grooves of increasing width.

11. The process of rolling a thin web shape from a flanged blank which comprises thinning and widening the web 1progressively from the median lineof the b ank toward the flanges in a series of roll grooves of increasing width operating simultaneously upon successive portions of the shape. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this ec'ification.

' NO MAN 0. RENDLEMA'N. 

